At the Customs House

The moment a traveler crosses the border their luggage is taken to the customs-house by porters. Every country has its own customs regulations, which stipulate what articles are liable to duty and what are duty-free.

Sometimes an article which falls under customs restrictions and is liable to duty is allowed in duty-free if the traveler does not exceed a certain fixed quota. These are listed in a duty-free quota list. Customs restrictions also include a prohibited articles list. This is a list of items which may not be brought into a country or taken out of it. An official paper (from the proper authorities) giving permission to take items, which fall under special customs restrictions, in or out of a country is known as an import or export license.

If the traveler has any item which comes under customs restrictions he is asked to declare it. That is, he is asked to name the item, stating its value and other particulars. The declaration is made either orally or in writing on a special form. The practice seems to vary in different countries. Upon payment of duty the traveler is given a receipt. As a rule personal effects are duty-free.

It sometimes happens that a passenger’s luggage is carefully gone through in order to prevent smuggling. The formalities at the customs-house usually take some time. Only after passing through the customs does one realize that their journey is drawing to an end (or beginning, as the case might be).

Answer the following questions:

1) What are the duties of a customs inspector?

2) What is the meaning of the question ”Have you anything to declare”

one hears at the customs-house so often?

3) What is the phrase “ I have nothing to declare” mean?

4) Do customs restrictions vary in different countries?

5) Have you ever gone through a customs inspection? If so relate your experience.

6) What is a duty-free item?

7) What do we mean by saying that something is an item liable to duty?

8) Why is smuggling punishable by law?

9) What does the Customs Inspected stamp stand for?

10) Can you name some of the ‘personal effects” one usually takes along on a journey?

Give the English equivalents of the following collocations:

попадать под ограничения, осматривать (багаж), заниматься контрабандой, таможенный сбор, таможенная декларация, таможенное управление, личные вещи, пройти таможенный досмотр, таможенные правила, таможенные ограничения.

Match the words and their explanation:

a. duty-free goods

b. to declare

c. effects(pl.)

d. to smuggle

e. restrictions

f. tariff

g. liable

h. border

i. luggage

j. value

1) to make known publicly or officially, according to rules, custom, etc.;

2) to make a full statement of property responsible, esp. in law for paying for something

3) the cases, bags,boxes, etc. of a traveler

4) the dividing line between two countries

5) things you can buy at airports or on ships without paying the full price because there is no tax on them

6) belongings, personal property

7) to take (esp. goods) from one country to another illegally

8) a tax collected by a government, usually on goods coming into a country

9) the worth of something in money or as compared with other goods

10) rules or laws that strictly control what you are allowed to do

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14